Child's Play
"Child's Play" is the fifth episode of Miami Vice's fourth season. The episode premiered on October 30, 1987. Summary A distraught Crockett (due to an accidental shooting of a child) reaches out to his estranged son Billy. Plot Crockett & Tubbs are doing surveillence for gun runners when they hear a man & woman fighting next door. When the fight escalates Crockett bursts in and finds a man, Walker Monroe (Ving Rhames), holding a knife on his girlfriend, Annette McAllister (Danitra Vance). Monroe drops the knife when ordered, but Crockett sees a gun in another room and fires through the wall. He discovers, to his horror, he has shot a young boy. Crockett, Tubbs, Annette, and Monroe all talk to IAD about the shooting. Annette and Monroe agree that the child thought his mother was endangered and grabbed the gun (a 9mm Belgian-Browning high power), and Monroe is repentant for hurting Annette. Crockett is extremely agonized about the shooting. Tubbs was afraid that Crockett had been shot. Gina finds Annette has a record for prostitution arrests, but no jail time; there is nothing on either the boy or Monroe. Castillo wants Crockett to speak to a psychologist, DiTello, but he refuses, opting instead to go to the hospital and check on the boy, Jeffrey McAllister, who is alive but badly wounded. Crockett insists that everything possible be done for him, and for the doctors to let him know about money if needed. Outside ICU they see Monroe, who blames his outburst on Annette "turning tricks" and that he's been seeing a social worker. Crockett warns him about touching Annette again. On the St. Vitus Dance, Crockett hears a radio report about the shooting and that "community leaders" want him suspended. While he has some alcohol to kill the pain, he looks over a picture of Caroline and Billy, who now live upstate. They find the gunrunners Crockett, Tubbs, and Switek were staking out didn't show because they were hit by the main man, Holiday, and they (Vice) decide shake him out, including Crockett, who Castillo doesn't want working due to the shooting, but has Tubbs stay with him. They go see Holiday (Isaac Hayes), who denies knowing of any guns; Crockett rams his head into a pinball machine and pulls his gun, but Tubbs backs him off and works out a deal with Holiday, who mentions there are some new people from Chicago who think they own the turf. Tubbs (who knows Crockett's mind is on Jeffrey) dresses down Crockett about roughing up Holiday, then reaches out to him to help through his situation. Walker gives Annette money to take care of Jeffrey's hospital bills, then tells her to "keep doing her job" and he'll keep her alive. Crockett spins his car around and takes off, without telling anyone where he's going. Crockett goes to see his ex-wife Caroline (Belinda Montgomery) and son Billy (Clayton Barclay Jones), who he hasn't seen in three years, and is introduced to her fiance Bob Ballard (Parris Buckner). Meanwhile the "community leaders" (mostly African-Americans in the neighborhood where the shooting occurred) see Castillo and the Chief of Police, demanding that the officer that shot Jeffrey be identified and suspended, to "give the people something". The Chief insists the officer (Crockett) will be suspended and charged if appropriate, but not just to "give the people something". Caroline tells Crockett Billy has missed him, and Crockett takes Billy out in the Testarossa. He tells Billy that he stayed away since the last time he was around so that he and his mom could start a better life. Billy is distant, telling his dad that his mom is going to marry Bob and that Bob wants to adopt him. Tubbs and Switek meet Holiday with a case full of Benjamins in exchange for some CIA weapons, which is a set up for a raid. Castillo says the weapons can be linked to the new Chicago gang coming in. Trudy finds the same Belgian Browning guns that Jeffrey had when Crockett shot him, and Castillo orders all boxes opened. Crockett returns from his time with Billy, after having a furious argument with Caroline over Bob wanting to adopt him. Crockett is at Jeffrey's bedside again, then goes to DiTello's office, and after a long period of staring at one another leaves without saying anything, heading for OCB. Castillo calls him in to his office, asking where he was, since he didn't call and tell anyone where he went, and informs Crockett he's off the street, despite the fact the department cleared him in the shooting. Crockett's emotions finally overwhelm him and he vents to Castillo, who tells him that the shooting will eat him up - as it should - but to remember the work that he does and the people that care about that work, and about Crockett. Crockett is back at the hospital where Jeffrey is stable but unresponsive. The doctor tells him that Jeffrey's mother has been paying the bills in cash, despite the appearance of financial difficulties, and returns Crockett's uncashed check to him. Tubbs relays the find at the bust of Holiday that the numbers on the guns found there and Annette's gun were the same. The shipment was hijacked from Baltimore, though the people being investigated in Miami are from Chicago. ATF indicates the gun gangs are branching out into franchises nationwide, and the prints on the McAllister gun actually belong to someone else, not Jeffrey McAllister. Crockett unwisely goes to an Overtown church where Annette and Monroe are and confronts them with the fact that there is no Jeffrey McAllister, infuriating the community leaders. The prints belong to a 13 year old runaway from Wisconsin named Gordon Cavis, alias "Crossbones", with outstanding warrants for assault, burglary, and murder in Chicago, in a South Side street gang called the "Bandits", who use younger juveniles to commit the more serious crimes, with murder being the rite of passage, since no one will send a 13 year old to the chair. Crockett explains to the Chief that someone had to speak for the kid, regardless if he's a normal kid from Overtown or a murderer from Chicago, and the "community leaders" used him for political gain. Everyone in the room accepts this, and decide to bring Annette & Monroe in for questioning. A rage-filled Montoe viciously beats Annette, but she manages to stab him in the leg with a knife before passing out. In the hospital, Annette admits she has no kids and that Monroe made up the whole "Jeffrey McAllister" thing. They were fighting over her telling Holiday about Monroe's guns, and she feared both Monroe and Crossbones would kill her before Crockett intervened. Tubbs tells her Monroe will kill her unless they stop him first. She tells them where Monroe can be found: he and his crew are moving some weapons. The Vice team raids and a shootout ensues; Monroe dies fleeing Crockett on top of a storage tank when an explosion knocks him off the side, despite a desperate attempt by Crockett to save him. Crockett goes to see "Jeffrey" one more time at the hospital, and talks about his dad, and about Billy as to what he will dol; the boy finally becomes conscious, squeezing Crockett's hand. Crockett goes to see Billy again and vows to be the best dad he can be to him, and that no one is going to adopt him. Cast *Don Johnson as Metro-Dade Detective James "Sonny" Crockett *Philip Michael Thomas as Metro-Dade Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs *Saundra Santiago as Metro-Dade Detective Gina Calabrese *Michael Talbott as Metro-Dade Detective Stan Switek *Olivia Brown as Metro-Dade Detective Trudy Joplin *Edward James Olmos as Metro-Dade Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo Guest Stars *Danitra Vance as Annette McAllister *Ving Rhames as Walker Monroe *Clayton Barclay Jones as Billy Crockett *Isaac Hayes as Holiday *Belinda Montgomery as Caroline Crockett Co-Starring *Parris Buckner as Bob Ballard *Robert MacBeth as Olson *Rafael Prieto as Mathias *Jimmy Rogers as Leader *Arnie Ross as Metro-Dade Sergeant DiTello "Ripped From The Headlines" *In this episode, the problem of juvenile gangs expanding into guns and distributing them around the country (as well as the problem of kids committing crimes without consequences) is explored. Notes *This is the first appearance of Belinda Montgomery as Caroline Crockett since the first season's "Calderone's Return (Part I)", Parris Buckner as Caroline's future husband Bob Ballard, and Clayton Barclay Jones as Billy (Ryan St. Leon played Billy in the pilot and in "Calderone's Return Part I"). *Under today's laws, Crockett would be fined for allowing his son to ride on his lap in his car rather than in a booster seat and seat belt. *Tubbs was right about no one sending a teenager to the chair, in 2005 the Supreme Court outlawed capital punishment for anyone under 18 years of age. *Crockett once again comes under fire for his actions, but like previous occurrences, his actions are deemed justified. Music *"The Dream" by Albert Collins and Robert Cray (in pool hall with Holiday) *"Race Against Time" by U2 (shootout with Monroe's men) Quotes *"You touch her again, and you won't need a social worker!" -- Crockett to Monroe *"This is one of those absolutely, positively has to be delivered overnight situations, you understand?" -- Tubbs (as Cooper) to Holiday about his gun shipment *"The bullet left the gun, it was your gun, your finger on the trigger, you pulled the trigger, now, live with the responsibility. It's gonna scar you, eat you, burn you inside, and it should...but you've got work to do that you care about, people are depending on that, you've got people who care about you, Sonny, like me." -- Castillo to Crockett Category:Miami Vice Season 4 Episodes